Melissa Good - Thicker Than Water

“I most certainly do.” She enunciated the words very carefully. “Roger is no longer here to protect you, and you will leave this house immediately, or I’ll have security drag you out of it and toss you over the wall.” Her voice rose. “You will not stay in my home one more second or visit even one more second’s abuse on my children. Out! ”

Kyle’s eyes narrowed as he circled the desk. “Think you can just order me around like that, lady? Better think again.”

160 Melissa Good He was stopped in his tracks, the back of his collar and belt held firmly and yanked, jerking him back several paces. A low, Southern-tinged drawl crawled over his shoulder.

“Ah do believe this lady asked you to leave.”

“Let me go.” Kyle struggled. He was jerked further back, where he collided with a large body.

“G’head.” Andrew lowered his voice. “Fight me, you bastard,

’cause I’m looking for one real small excuse to rip off yer arm and beat you with it.” The voice dropped further. “’Cause I can.”

Kyle stopped struggling, turned his head, and met Andrew’s pale blue eyes.

“And ah will,” Andrew rumbled. “Now, you figger my kid kicked yer ass round ’bout a year ago, and she’s a damn sight nicer than I am.”

For a moment, it could have gone either way, then Kyle glanced away. “If you put it that way, fine. I’ll be out of here as soon as I gather my gear. The information I have will certainly screw you over, too, you fucking sailor.”

Andrew swung him around and shoved him towards the door, adding a boot to the butt to hurry his progress. Kyle stumbled forward but caught himself on the chair, and, after grabbing his jacket, left the room without a single backward glance.

“Well.” Cynthia exhaled. “Thank you, Commander Roberts.”

She glanced at the door. “I’m afraid he might try to turn this to his advantage, however. He has quite a legal mind.”

“And ah have me a smart wife.” Andrew ambled across the room and drew back the heavy window curtains. Ceci slipped out, putting the cap on a small, nifty looking video camera. “Who don’t like to take chances.”

Ceci gave Cynthia a smile. “Well done. Couldn’t have done it better myself, though I suspect my daughter could have.”

Cynthia Stuart let out a long, relieved sigh. “I have so dreamed of doing that. For such a long time.” She collected herself and straightened. “I believe I need a drink after that, however.

Will you join me?”

“Absolutely.” Ceci curled her arm around Andrew’s and smiled. “We should talk.”

Andrew looked thoughtfully at the door. “Ya’ll go on; I’ll catch you up,” he said, gently disengaging his arm and heading after Kyle.

IT WAS DARK in the hall, but Dar’s night vision was up to the task. She glided down the steps on bare feet without a whisper of sound and crossed the huge foyer with a quick look in either Thicker Than Water 161

direction.

The big house was quiet, but not silent. Its walls creaked, and there were soft sounds of cutlery clinking somewhere off to one side that indicated not everyone was sleeping. Dar paused in the doorway of the main hall to listen, only moving on when she was sure no one was headed her way.

She wasn’t even sure why she was doing this, except that she knew if she told Kerry what was going on, and she hadn’t even tried looking, her partner would be upset. It would be like she’d quit, and Dar clearly remembered Kerry’s reaction to that the last time she had just given up.

So here she was, slinking like a thief in the night, creeping across the marble floors to the door of Roger Stuart’s study. Again she paused to listen, one hand on the knob. Certain that she was alone, she opened the door, slipped inside, and closed the door behind her, thanking anyone who was listening that the hinges were well oiled.

The office was dark. Through one window, a bit of light from outside threw soft gray shadows over the room. A shiver went down her back as she imagined the room’s former occupant watching her malevolently from the next dimension, and the stirring of her usually dormant imagination almost sent her right back out of the room. Then her logic centers took hold and she forced herself towards the other end of the study.

Here, shelves of books and handsome oak inlaid cabinets lined the walls. Dar touched a few of the books, but they were mostly never read sets; the cabinets opened readily, displaying cut crystal decanters of whiskey and not much more.

She studied the desk, then turned on the desk lamp and bathed the surface in bright gold. The leather desk pad showed faint impressions, and if she looked at an angle, she could almost make out words, pressed there by a dead man’s hand.

One word caught her eye, she leaned closer, and touched the pad as she recognized—even with breaks and gaps—her lover’s name. But that was all she could make out, just the “Kerrison,”

and then part of one word, “bo.” For it to be there at all, it had to be recent.

As intriguing as that was, Dar reluctantly tore her attention from it. She pulled out a drawer and hunted through it, finding it mostly empty. The next, and the next were the same, and the fourth contained only a Bible and a folded wool sweater. “Least one of them’s useful.” But the papers she sought were not there.

She straightened, then froze, finding a pair of somber eyes looking back at her. “Ah.”

Kerry walked across the room and faced her across the desk.

162 Melissa Good

“What in the dickens are you doing?” She folded her arms.

Rats. Dar leaned a bit on the desk top. “Thought you were asleep. I was just trying to clean up a detail or two.”

“Detail?” Kerry looked around and then back at her. “About what? Why are you in here, Dar? What are you looking for?” She kept her voice very low, though not quite a whisper.

Ah well. She had been hoping to put off telling Kerry about Alastair’s call until they were on the way home. With the stress of being with her family so high, the last thing Dar felt she needed was to hear more trouble. Now, she had little choice.

“I’m looking for the papers I gave him,” Dar replied quietly.

“Alastair needs them. Otherwise, the deal is off, and I’m no longer your boss.”

Kerry’s jaw dropped, literally.

“And they’re not here. So,” Dar circled the desk, and turned off the light, leaving them in darkness, “let’s go back to bed. I can at least say I tried.”

“Wait. I thought—”

Dar took her arm. “Word got out that the senator had them.”

She nudged Kerry towards the door. “C’mon. Don’t worry about it, Ker. Whatever happens, happens.”

Don’t worry about it. Kerry felt numb. She’d woken in darkness to find Dar gone. Instinct had led her to the study, and now…

She sighed. Now, she almost wished she’d just stayed in bed.

“Okay.” It was all just too much. She wrapped her fingers in Dar’s nightshirt and let her lead her back upstairs to their room. “Were you serious about—?”

“Yeah,” Dar whispered as they nearly tiptoed down the hallway. “But it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.”

Dar closed the door to their room behind them and put her arms around Kerry. “Yes, it is. I don’t regret any of it, Ker. Honestly.”

Kerry looked up into her eyes and read the truth there. Feeling the tears well up and the ache in her heart shortening her breathing, she put her palm against Dar’s cheek. “It’s not okay,”

she managed to get out. “Dar—”

“Shh.” Dar kissed her forehead. “I love you. That’s what matters to me. You matter to me. ILS can go jump off a bridge, for all I care.”